We Move Forward
by Slytherin Princess Nysa
Summary: When Lena and Tris get to Dauntless it seems like a routine- you wake up, you train, you spend time with friends and you try to stay above the red line. Then things get complicated- you try to stop a hostile take over once, twice, three times...You try not to fall for the wrong person, you fail. AU/OOC (Temp. Hiatus)
1. Aptitude

**{Chapter 1}**

 ** _*Shadow of the Day by Linkin Park (Echos Cover)*_**

* * *

Beatrice Prior stared at the wooden handle. Breathing in calmly she reached for the simple knob on her door. Twisting it until she heard the click she thought better of it and backed away a step, leaving the door firmly shut. Rubbing the spot above her eyebrow she nibbled her bottom lip and continued worrying her lip.

Closing her eyes she bit down until she could taste the copper in her mouth. "It's just a test." Beatrice whispered into her empty room. Small reassurances to stop her worrying, she reminded herself, then she'd walk down the stairs to the front door.

"Should I be concerned that you're talking to yourself?" Her eyes snapped open in search of the familiar voice. It didn't take long to find the smirking girl across from her. Magdalena was leaning against the wooden frame, her arms crossed and golden brown curls loose.

"I was just-" She stumbled. Sometimes it was hard for Beatrice to share her insecurities with her sister. Magdalena was confident and a natural at everything she tried. It made it difficult to talk about things like boys.

"I know, I'm only teasing." Her sister smiled for a minute before her face took on a look of seriousness that Beatrice had only seen a handful of times. "I'm nervous too."

Beatrice smiled widely at her sister's honesty. "Do you think it's a fraternal twin thing?"

Magdalena steered her sister through the door and down the stairs, pondering her question, "Most definitely."

"There you two are, we have to leave or you might be late." Their mother was a flowing figure, she moved fluidly through their living room. Natalie Prior was beautiful even in the bland grey of Abnegation clothes. Her eyes were a match to Magdalena's icy blue.

"I'm sorry, mum, we lost track of time." Their mother kissed each of their cheeks and gestured towards the door for her daughters to walk ahead. The Prior sisters began their slow walk to school with their arms linked.

 **~o.O.o~**

Today was Testing Day, the last days of certain factions for people. Although whatever Faction they tested wasn't set in stone since in the morning they would go to the Choosing Ceremony. They were eighteen, legally considered adults, it was time for them to decide where they saw themselves in their future. Outside of their parents factions.

Classes has stayed the same until midday, then students began being called into one of the four testing rooms. Beatrice and Magdalena were sitting in the Hub waiting. Beatrice was anxiously tapping her foot against the foot of her chair- Magdalena was tracing letters on her palm as a nervous tick.

Teenagers in neutral colors flocked into groups around the room.

Amity in their colorful but loose clothing milled around the windows, basking in the afternoon light. They were kind and full of happiness, though most people wondered if that was only on account of the peace serum in their bread. The Peaceful folk were tanned from hours of working in the hot fields, their hands calloused and rough. It was picturesque- their calm attitude drew people to them like moths to a flame.

Candor, the Honest, were cool tempered. They were straight backed and collected. An image in black and white clothes. They were truthful and simple. To them the only thing that mattered was the truth, no matter how unpleasant.

Erudite were cold. Their minds were their greatest weapons. They were scientists and teachers. They wore blue with formality and refined grace.

Abnegation wore gray. They were tasked with taking care of the Factionless and running the government since the other Factions could depend on the judgement of the Selfless.

Dauntless were reckless. They were wild and unrefined, the exact opposite of Erudite. Dozens of strange designs marred their bodies, pieces of metal pierced their brows and tongues and various other places. Dauntless were second in size only to Amity.

Although normally the five factions would remain separated the Hub was filled with an array of color from the different people traveling around the empty spaces. It was a tranquil messiness that was almost in balance.

"Beatrice Prior and Magdalena Prior- rooms A and B! Peter Hayes and Molly Atwood- rooms C and D!" Magdalena watched a tall boy with shaky hands and a girl with an overbite from Candor head towards the Testing rooms. They were taller than most of the other Candor students but Peter didn't look confident as he shut the door behind himself.

Magdalena walked her sister to room A. "I love you." There was no point in giving her luck, the testing took into account a person's deepest nature. In Abnegation it was common to say words of comfort but in that moment Magdalena didn't see herself as an Abnegation, she saw herself as a sister.

"I love you too." Beatrice squeezed her hand and walked inside. Magdalena walked to her own Testing room and, taking a deep breath, walked inside.

 **~o.O.o~**

"It won't hurt." Magdalena suspiciously eyed the large needle nestled in the Amity womans hands. She looked about her mother's age but the similarities ended there. Natalie was dark haired while the woman poking the gage needle into her neck was strawberry blonde.

The sting of the metal left an uncomfortable chill in her skin. Magdalena sat down on the edge of the hard surface of the examination chair. "How long until the simulation begins?"

"A few moments until your system fully absorbs the serum." The woman sat on a stool close to Magdalena and gave her leg a comforting pat. "You know I have a daughter, it's her choosing year too."

Magdalena nodded, smiling, but when she tried to speak nothing came out. Her vision began to blur and her head spun lightly. She saw the woman's eyes soften before her head snapped back into unconsciousness.

It was a deafening quiet that had built up around her when she woke up.

She looked down at her hands searching for the crimson from the dog. Finding her hands clean she held them to her chest protectively. Magdalena wasn't the type of person who condoned violence but under certain circumstances it was unavoidable. She looked around the room for the body of the dog or the bloodied knife she'd driven into its side, but most importantly, she tried to find the young child she had been holding onto.

"Dauntless." The Amity woman watched Magdalena calm her breathing before she rolled the stool back to the chair Magdalena was sitting in. "May I ask you a favor?"

Magdalena was confused about what that had to do with her Testing but nodded her head.

"My daughter is a sweet girl but a mother can always tell when her child is unhappy. She's going to transfer out of Amity. I don't know which Faction but if she ends up in Dauntless," The woman paused and looked at Magdalena pleadingly. "Watch out for her?"

Magdalena knew that a lot of people didn't primarily transfer from Amity to Dauntless since it was a drastic change but there was always a possibility. She didn't want to tie her word to someone she had never met but staring into the woman's eyes she couldn't resist.

"What's her name?" The mother gave a sigh of relief.

"Petra Nahava."

"I'll watch out for her-" The Amity woman hugged her tightly. "-If she transfers into Dauntless." But the woman didn't see it as a rejection. She muttered words of gratitude into Magdalena's shoulder.

 **~o.O.o~**

When Magdalena and Beatrice walked back to their home it was quiet. They didn't say anything not just because it's against the rules but because they were both stunned by their Aptitude results. The truth was, neither thought that they would stay in Abnegation for the rest of their lives but they were scared of telling each other because tomorrow was Choosing Day and they didn't know what to do.

 **~o.O.o~**

Choosing Day was a long event. The hall was filled with each faction but there was no chaos or loud teens, like there would usually be with multiple factions in one place. Everyone watched as a Candor representative rose to the high platform on the front of the hall.

"Welcome! Today is the day when you decide where you belong. Candor for the honest, Erudite for the intelligent, Amity for the kind, Abnegation for the selfless and Dauntless for the brave. Make your choice wisely because the future belongs to those who know."

Magdalena didn't know. She wasn't certain of anything anymore. She was born in Abnegation but she tested Dauntless. Caleb had been Abnegation but he transferred to Erudite. Magdalena wondered where Beatrice would end up. How could she watch over her family if they were all in different factions?

One by one each faction watched their children become adults. There was a commonality between each and every one of them who walked to the podium- they were all trying to be confident and look sure of whatever choice they had made.

Magdalena stared at her parents, tuning out the people who cut their palms into one of the five bowls. Would they be disappointed? "Beatrice Prior!" Magdalena's head snapped towards her sister moving down the stairs. She watched Beatrice twirl the thin blade between her fingers and when she brought it to her palm, Magdalena closed her eyes in a silent prayer that her sister would choose a place with great happiness.

Suddenly there was an uproar from Magdalena's side. Her eyes snapped open and she watched the grey clothed figure of her sister slowly walk to the Dauntless section of the hall. They were happily bouncing in their seats and a boy with a bright orange mohawk let Beatrice have his seat. Magdalena felt a pull on her hand and when she looked to her mother she saw the tears flooding her eyes. "Magdalena Prior!"

Magdalena was more nervous than she thought she could be. It was like each step she took reverberated through the hall and around her head. There were exactly seven steps from the first stair to the five white bowls in the center of the stage. Her hands shook almost violently as she picked up the ceremonial knife. She took a calming breath and gripped the hilt tighter in her hand before blindly slicing into her palm.

When she held out her hand she heard the sharp intake of breaths behind her. The slow drip of her blood was almost mesmerizing, she watched it fascinated until it fell into a bowl. The sizzling of her blood on hot coals was met with loud cheers.

Magdalena didn't make eye contact with her parents when she sat down next to Beatrice. Her sister looked at her and reached out her hand slowly, unsure of Magdalena's reaction. Magdalena grasped her sister's hand and intertwining their fingers together, smiled reassuringly. The ceremony continued for a short while after the Prior sisters had been situated in the Dauntless seats. Both sneaking apprehensive glances towards their parents, but neither were able to look for too long. Having a child transfer was hard on the family but having three leave one after the other must have been heart wrenching for their parents.

When everyone had chosen their new Faction the Dauntless were on their feet first. Running towards the doors leading outside in a frenzy.

For the first time in her life Magdalena wasn't told to slow down but as they ran she kept close to her sister. They were in this together, just like their past, their future was tied together.

They ran through the streets like a river of black with streaks of color from the Faction transfers. Magdalena looked up to the towering glass buildings and wondered if the sun had always shown down so brightly. The sound of an oncoming train jeered her to start climbing the rusted beams, the paint chips aggravated her cut but she pressed forward until she could pull herself onto the track. Reaching behind her she held out her hand for a Candor transfer. She recognized him as the boy who had been called into the Testing rooms at the same time as her and Beatrice. He was a good head taller than her when he stood at his full height.

Magdalena looked around for her sister and, finding her next to a Candor girl, sidestepped an Erudite transfer to reach her. Just as she stopped next to her she heard the loud screech of train wheels nearing them.

"Incoming!" A Dauntless man shouted. Many of the Dauntless-born and older members began running ahead. Following their lead the transfers took off. One by one they each grabbed onto a handle and swung inside the car.

Magdalena landed gracelessly in a heap next to a worn out looking boy in Amity clothing. Magdalena stood on shaky legs and took a minute to make sure her legs wouldn't slip from underneath her before moving to her sister.

"You okay?" Beatrice asked as she approached.

"I don't remember running after a train in Abnegation so it's a little new." The two girls who had joined them laughed.

"Hi, I'm Christina." The Candor girl held out her hand and smiled when Beatrice and then Magdalena shook her hand.

"I'm Petra." So she _had_ transferred to Dauntless, Magdalena made a mental note to never question a mother's instinct again.

"I'm-" The doors opened and wind gushed inside. The loud roar inside the car saved Magdalena from introducing herself and Beatrice. It wasn't that she didn't like her name, but it was a mouthful.

"Time to jump! If you stay on the train you're Factionless!" A girl with enough piercings to be hung as a decoration yelled over the sound.

"Oh hell." Magdalena heard the boy from Candor- Peter- mutter when people began jumping from the train. Beatrice looked at her sister who simply shrugged and backed into the wall of the car.

"Together?" The little group they had formed joined her. Magdalena watched the people in the car in front of theirs jump and decided that was as good as timing would get. Sprinting forward she threw her body off the moving train and onto the waiting rooftop. It wasn't the most painless landing but looking around she saw her sister was okay and that was enough.

Glancing back at the train she saw a transfer sitting on the car floor in tears. The boy had been too scared to jump. Maybe he was afraid of heights but he was now Factionless and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

"Dauntless, huh?" Beatrice asked, shaking gravel off her knees. Magdalena just grinned back and gave her a look that clearly said ' _you're one to talk_.' The group gathered at the edge of the building. There were three men standing at the front, Magdalena wondered when had all the older Dauntless members disappeared and where they had gone?

"I'm Max, one of the leaders here. Welcome to the entrance to Dauntless!" Magdalena and Beatrice looked around the rooftop for a hatch or staircase leading to the compound they knew must be around somewhere. The dark skinned man stepped away from the ledge and waved his hand, "Who's first?"

The initiates glanced towards each other nervously, Magdalena noticed that their herd had thinned to only the transfers. _Where did these people go_?

Magdalena counted how many transfers there were on the roof. Beatrice and herself were the only two from Abnegation, four from Erudite , five from Candor and two from Amity. A total of six girls and seven boys. It seemed Candor was at at an advantage in numbers.

Petra stepped up the brink and glanced down. She made a squeak when her foot stepped on the overhang. Magdalena chewed her lip wondering how far the drop was. Hell, she had even closed her eyes when jumping from the train to the roof. If she was being totally honest with herself, Magdalena was a little scared of heights.

"Today, Initiate!" A man ground out from next to Max.

Petra's auburn hair slipped out of its bun and flowed freely in the wind as she fully climbed on top of the cement. Petra's body wavered before she stepped off the edge. A high pitched scream followed and Magdalena felt Beatrice stiffen as they all waited for the _splat_ of Petra's body hitting the ground. _Why would they bring them here to jump and kill themselves_? Maybe it was a way for them to weed out the people who were stupid enough to jump. When they didn't hear bone snaps or excruciating screaming Magdalena was little relieved.

"I don't want to stay up here all day! Come on ladies!" Magdalena hardened her gaze on the man who demeaned her sex. He was taller than her with blocks of tattoos on the sides of his neck and a piercing above his eyebrow and both ears. He was attractive but his cold blue eyes and rigid posture were unwelcoming.

Magdalena felt the challenge resonate in her stomach like a hot ball of lead. She had spent all of her life being underestimated by every Faction. It was time for her to prove her worth and become the person she wanted to be.

She stepped forward, avoiding Beatrice's wide eyed stare.

Without letting herself think about it too much she glared at the man. His arms were crossed over his broad chest and he looked back at her. Magdalena felt a tick in her jaw and when she climbed onto the ledge, she determinedly spread her arms wide.

Like she was ready to take flight.

She fell backwards towards the giant, depthless hole in the ground. The buildings on each side had cracked windows and bent metal beams poking through the foundation. Magdalena fell in slow motion until the rough mesh of rope dug into her back. The air was knocked out of her lungs for a moment before she felt the pull of the net and rolled.

A man with short brown hair and dark eyes watched her cradled in the net. Reaching inside he wrapped his arms around her waist and dropped her onto her feet in front of him. "Name." She looked at him a little confused and he rolled his eyes. "You get to choose a new one but keep in mind that you're stuck with it."

"Ma- Lena." He rose his eyebrows at her. "Just Lena."

"Second jumper- Lena!" Cheers erupted from the crowd and Petra pulled at her arm as another body dropped into the net.

"Third jumper- Tris!"

It was surprising to see her own sister confidently accept her new name. "Tris?"

Her sister- Tris- grinned. "Beatrice is a bit pretentious. What did you go with?"

"Lena." Petra laughed with the girls and they waited for the rest of the jumpers.

 **~o.O.o~**

"Attention! I'm Lauren, this is Four and Eric." She says gesturing to the men on either side of her. One was the man who had helped Lena out from the net and the other was the jerk from the rooftop. "We're your instructors for the next six months. Dauntless-born are with me, transfers are with Four." Lena breathed out a sigh of relief. At least Tris and her weren't going to be stuck with Eric. "Eric is a leader in training and oversees both class so don't piss him off."

 _Nevermind._

Lauren headed down the hallways, not bothering to tell anyone to follow her, the Dauntless-born quickly followed. Although they all looked calm at the prospect of six months of training and not at all freaked out by the two angry looking men the transfers were left with.

Eric was looking over the crowd intently when his eyes suddenly locked on an initiate behind Lena. She couldn't read the exact emotion that flooded the blue but she thought a flicker of happiness was buried in there somewhere. Glancing at the Erudite boy behind her Lena couldn't see anything that was overwhelmingly special.

Dirty blonde hair, verging more on light blonde. Silver eyes and a slightly crooked nose. Although he was more built than most of the other male initiates.

 _Maybe Eric was excited to see him fight or maybe he's into guys._

"Follow." Eric growled and pushed through the middle of the dense group. So far Lena was not a fan of leader-in-training-Eric. Hell, Eric in general seemed like a huge douchebag. They walked in silence through dingy and poorly lit hallways. Four was at the end of their group, making sure no one got lost or wandered away on their own.

When Eric stopped it was unexpected and, as the first person behind him, Lena ran into him. Cringing she looked up and as she thought, he was glaring down at her. The apology formed on her lips before she bit it back- not only was this not Abnegation but Eric didn't look like the type of person to accept it.

"This is where you'll be staying until the end of initiation." Eric swung the door. It made a sickening crack against the wall that rattled Lena, but, thankfully, Eric was busy ambling into the room to notice her jump.

Lena and Tris were the first to see their new home. Home being loosely based for the occasion. There was no outside light coming into the room just artificial lamps along the cement walls. Fifteen bare cots were evenly spaced in the room, two of them had large piles of blankets and pillows waiting for occupants to take them. A trunk was at the bottom of each metal bed frame for their belongings. But what really horrified the majority of initiates was the lack of shower curtains. The two toilets were hidden behind doors but there was no such courtesy for privacy when showering apparently.

"There was two stages of training," Four called to the spread out initiates to gain their attention. "Physical and mental. Stage one lasts four months, stage two lasts two."

"Don't get too attached to anyone." Eric continued from his spot against the wall. "Only twenty are making it through initiation this year and there's thirteen of you and seventeen Dauntless-born. Chances are more of them will make it through than you."

"What happens to the people who get cut?" An Erudite- Myra- whispered.

"They become Factionless." Four said before Eric could. Something told Lena that his response would have been less kind.

"Training is from eight to six." Four said making his way out of the door.

"Don't be late!" Eric snapped before slamming the door shut.

Lena sat on the cot next to Tris. "Isn't he a bucket of sunshine and rainbows?"

Christina snickered from Tris' other side and flopped down on her new cot. "You said it, could he be any more insensitive? Ten of us are going to end up Factionless by the end of this."

"Yeah, Eric isn't exactly the type to sugarcoat anything." Lena looked up at the Erudite boy, the same one Eric had stared at. "Oh, right, sorry. I'm Gideon."

"How do you know Eric?" Petra sat next to Lena's legs and eyed the new addition to their apparently forming sisterhood.

"He's my brother." The four girls looked at one another in confusion. "He transferred a few years back. I guess Erudite couldn't contain the Coulter boys." He grinned and Lena had a hard time imagining that this boy could be related to their angry co-trainer.

"I'm Tris, this is Lena, Christina and Petra." Petra waved to him kindly and Lena scooted up her bed to make room for Gideon.

"Do you guys think we'll all make it through initiation?" He asked sitting next to Petra.

"I'm betting on Amity, she swan dived in record time." Lena teased shoving the redheads shoulder.

"I guess we'll see tomorrow morning then."

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent or any of the characters used in this story besides Magdalena and a few other original characters. The plot does veer away from canon by quiet a bit so don't expect things from Allegiant to happen- actually just don't have any expectations so it takes longer for me to disappoint you.**

 **Firstly, I would like to thank izaiza14 for being the first follower of this story when I legit had nothing on it and thank you to CynDLou12 for being my first review and Carolina00i for my first favorite, which I can't explain but thank you.** **I am doing NaNoWriMo this year so don't expect a chapter every other day or anything.**

 **I know so many people hate Peter and I honestly do too, but thanks to Miles I can't help but enjoy his sense of sarcastic humor and so I've decided to make him a good guy... Or have I? I guess you'll find out if you stick around.**

 **So there's going to be four main couples in this story and let me tell you- there's a complicated couple, a sweet gooey couple, an unavoidable couple and a surprising couple who most of you won't see coming. Actually, can you all try to guess who is in which couple?**

 **Finally, I hope you've enjoyed this introduction and please follow and review!**


	2. Go Big or Go Factionless

**Chapter 2**

 **~Lena~**

Lena woke up to a bright light flashing in her eyes. Groaning she spun to try and avoid the insistent voice in her head that told her it was time to get up, only to find that the voice wasn't inside her head and herself on the freezing floor. Rubbing her sore arm she glanced around the room of startled initiates.

"Drills in five minutes! I don't care if you have to do them in your underwear. Let's go!" Eric's voice wasn't how she wanted to wake up, today or tomorrow, or pretty much ever. Lena lifted herself from the floor and dug out her only pair of Dauntless clothing.

Lena made a mental note to find out where she could get more clothing, maybe with her sister and their new friends.

Beatrice groggily followed her sister's lead. "What time is it?" She yawned.

When Lena was fully dressed she held out her sisters jacket for Tris to slip her arms into. Petra was bundled up in her own jacket next to them, her hands buried deep in her pockets. It made sense to Lena that she would be colder in the Dauntless dorms, Amity spent their lives in the sun and Dauntless was secluded and chilling. "I don't think it's after five."

"Fantastic." Peter popped up behind Christina looking just as worn out and tired as the rest of them. "Not like we just ran, climbed, jumped onto trains and off a building yesterday." Lena's hand coiled around the back of her neck as she yawned.

"Let's get this over with and then we can come back here and become comatosed." There were five nods of agreement from her sister and their new friends.

Although Peter wasn't technically included yet Lena figured there was no point in trying to exclude anyone until stage one started. There would be plenty of time for alliances to be formed and the weak to be weeded out. There was no way to know what would happen during the next six months, or who would be cut. The only thing she was certain of was that Tris and herself would not be cut, they would be full members of Dauntless, and no one would stop them from ensuring that.

When Lena and the rest of the class made it outside of the dorms they were met with two stern looking instructors. "Thank you for gracing us with your presence, transfers."

"Took you long enough," Eric grumbled.

Lena scowled, "It's what happens when you wake people up at ungodly hours."

"Did I ask your opinion, Abnegation?" Eric was seething and Lena saw Tris narrow her eyes towards the blonde. Eric glared down at both of them before smirking. "We're splitting you up into two teams, one with Four and one with me."

"Are the Dauntless-born coming with us?" Edward aimed his question towards Four. Lena wondered if Eric purposefully made himself unapproachable to avoid people's questions or if he was genuinely an ass to everyone.

"Not today." Four said back. "We've already split you into groups of six and seven for today." Four pinned a small metal device to the wall and Lena watched, fascinated, as a digital list appeared in two columns below it.

Four stepped aside to let the initiates crowd around the list. Lena frowned when she realized Tris was separated from her, but she had to believe her sister would be okay on their first day apart from each other. Especially in Dauntless.

Lena and Tris had never been apart before and now with the possibility of becoming Factionless, Lena never wanted to let her sister out of her sight. Unbeknownst to her, Tris felt the exact same way but they both knew they had to have trust in each other.

~o.O.o~

 **Group A**

Christina

George

Peter

Tris

Edward

Al

Molly

 **Group B**

Gideon

Simon

Lena

Petra

Myra

Drew

~o.O.o~

As irrational and crude it was, Lena marginally hoped that Group A was under Eric's supervision. Four seemed like a more tolerable teacher than Eric and Lena didn't want to have one of the future leaders of Dauntless hate her anymore than he apparently hated everyone already. She crossed her fingers underneath the dark sleeve of her jacket, a superstition she remembered a boy from Abnegation taught her.

"Group A is with me," Lena suppressed a derogatory remark when she saw Eric smile towards her side. It was a sadistic grin and a shiver ran down her spine. "Group B is with Eric."

"I knew you were always the one who was more lucky." Lena whispered to Tris as she split away from her. "If I die, avenge me."

Tris laughed quietly and leaned behind Four and Eric's backs to mutter back. The men were talking in quiet tones but Lena didn't find the effort to try and find out what they were saying. "I promise I'll arrange an accident."

"Best sister." Lena said quickly before Eric or Four could snap her head off.

"Alright, let's go!" Eric pushed his way through the small group. "I don't need you wasting anymore of my time." Group B was moving down the hall in silence. Gideon, Petra and Lena were walking side by side at the very back of the group.

Lena could smell the Dauntless compound. A pleasant musky scent with a hint of ground coffee lingered in the air as they walked in the dimly lit halls. There was a metal bridge hanging over a deep pit of darkness. Lena could hear running water beneath her but looking down she couldn't see the water. "This is the Chasm! If you fall in, it's your own damn fault."

Lena glanced down at the darkness below her, a bottomless place where dreams went to die, like Lena's of not having another confrontation of Eric.

"Your brother is very inspirational." Petra jabbed her elbow into Gideon's ribs. "Makes me feel all warm inside."

"He's not that bad! Just intense." Gideon defended his older brother. Lena thought it was sweet of him to stand up for Eric. Although she wasn't sure he was the brother Gideon remembered and was trying so hard to preserve. The more she looked at Gideon and Eric the more she saw herself and Tris, a soft spot developing for the brothers.

When Eric opened his mouth next, that soft spot was crushed. "Don't jump in because I'll be stuck fishing your body out of the water."

Lena crossed her arms over her chest and leaned over to her friends. "I'd fuck him." Gideon choked and Lena tried not to laugh at the sincerity on Petra's face. "In a total hate fuck kind of way." She elaborated, making Gideon cringe in disgust.

"I don't want to hear that about my brother and I don't want to picture that with you and my brother." Lena chuckled as they moved along the bridge and made their way onto solid ground. There was a bright light ahead of them and shouting. Lena craned her neck to see in front of her at the commotion but couldn't look past Eric's wide shoulders.

"This is the Pit! The main source of life here, there's a tattoo parlor and clothing stores and any of that shit. Figure it out yourselves, I'm not your damned tour guide." Lena spotted Four on the opposite side of the Pit, Tris and Christina hanging close to Peter as they walked around the large groups of Dauntless.

Before Lena could fully take in the enormous space of life, people milling around in constant movement, they were walking after Eric again. He stopped at an unmarked door with a keycard and nodded towards it, "This is the security room. Don't go in here unless you want to get your ass kicked out of Dauntless." He gestured up the stairs at the end of the hall. "Those lead to the Leader's office and conference room. Don't go in there unless you want to get your ass kicked by me."

"Seems fair." Someone muttered behind the trio and Lena bit back a snort of laughter. Turning her head slightly she saw the only other Amity transfer, Simon, looking disinterested against a wall.

"Enough with the grand tour! Let's go!" Lena rolled her eyes at the man's idea of a grand tour. This had barely been an introduction to the _entrance_ of Dauntless, let alone the entire compound. Not being one to argue without having the upper hand, Lena wordlessly followed Eric down another flight of stairs.

The training area he took them to was huge. Cinder block beams reached up to the high ceiling and light filtered through windows down to the fighting mats. A dozen orange punching dummies were against one of the walls. On the far side of the room Lena noticed the sheets of silhouette targets lined up neatly on the wall.

"Start running," Eric said not turning to face them but Lena could see the stiffness of his shoulders and hear the expectancy in his voice. She knew was too slow or didn't run would be on Eric's list for cuts. Nudging Petra and Gideon with her elbow she nodded her head forward.

 _Follow my lead._

Petra nodded her head with wide eyes and watched Eric apprehensively from the corner of her green eyes. Lena could tell that in the few seconds that had passed Eric was already disappointed with the lack of movement behind him. Together the three of them started running quickly towards the targets.

Lena felt the muscles in her legs tighten and scream in protest the faster she pushed herself to go, glancing behind her, Lena took notice of the rest of their group. Everyone had begun to run and were slowly catching up to her. Eric was watching his brother earnestly. A small girl- Myra, she believed, was at the very back of the group, she had shorter legs because of her size and had a hard time staying close to Drew and the rest of the group.

Lena crushed down her feelings of pity, Myra wasn't her sister and she didn't owe her anything. Her Abnegation upbringing told her to slow down and keep their group together, but there was a new voice whispering in her head, telling her that by the end of their training ten initiates would be gone and she couldn't watch over everyone. Glancing back for a second longer Lena pushed forward. Dauntless wasn't a place to be selfless, it was a place to be strong. That's what she would be, **strong**. Petra made a squeak at the increasing speed but didn't argue, Gideon followed them without question.

They ran lap after painful lap around the training room, Lena tried to ignore the throbbing in her legs and the burning in her lungs but it was a persistent ache. Eric hadn't moved from the center mat. Tattooed arms crossed over his broad chest and his blue eyes studied each initiate, looking for their weaknesses. Lena grit her teeth and tried to look at ease.

Lena almost collapsed when she heard him breath out their release, "Stop."

Gideon was leaning against the wall. His hands gripping his knees for support and breathing heavily. Petra's red hair was plastered over her forehead with sweat and when she tried to push it back with her hand it trembled. Lena herself was gulping down air like there was nothing sweeter. How long had Eric kept them running?

"Go get something to eat then come back here. You have an hour, don't be late." Eric waved them away as he walked through the outer doors. Lena couldn't stand on her gelatine legs a second longer and fell to the ground in a heap of sweat and exhaustion.

"Did he even fucking tell us where we can get food?" She groaned up towards her friends in anger. How was she supposed to navigate through Dauntless in less than an hour.

"No, but if we go to the Pit I'm sure someone will tell us." Gideon offered up.

"Sounds like a plan, one small issue- I can't feel my legs." Petra started to laugh at Lena's immobile form before looking down at her own legs.

"I have the same problem." She mumbled.

It took them almost half an hour to find the cafeteria and when they did it was crowded and the line for food was longer than Lena imagined. Lena was thinking of ways to get to the front and then she could eat on the way back to the training room when she spotted her sister and Christina sitting with Peter, who was shoveling forkfuls of mush into his mouth.

The three of them sat besides their friends in silence. Tris slid a full bowl of oatmeal towards her sister, Christina and Peter doing the same for Petra and Gideon. "You three look like hell. Tough morning?"

Petra mumbled incoherently around her food and glared at her spoon. Tris nudged her sister lightly, inclining her head in question.

Lena tried not to eat too quickly, throwing up would be the worst way for her to continue her torturous day. Especially if Eric found out! **Eric.** "Eric decided to make us run laps."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Offered up Peter hopefully.

Gideon put down his empty bowl and frowned at Peter before turning his attention to something next to Peter's head. He stared off into the distance and bitterly clarified, "All morning. We took a ten minute tour and then ran laps."

Christina gasped loudly, "We left the dorm four hours ago!"

"And he told us we have to go back in-" Tris placed a comforting hand on Lena's shoulder and looked at her panicked twin. Lena stood abruptly when she noticed the time. "Five minutes!" Petra choked on a sip of water when Lena pushed away from the table.

"I'll see you later, bye!" Lena shouted over her shoulder as she ran out of the cafeteria. Petra and Gideon jogging behind her.

Gideon was the last one in the room, Lena almost felt sorry for him before she realized that Eric's scathing look would be the only reprimand his younger brother would receive. Lena tried not to be jealous but a little part of her wished she had Eric's soft side too. Then she reminded herself that she would rather bathe in freezing water than kiss Eric's ass. Was it entirely fair that Eric's younger brother wasn't getting yelled at? Nope. Were the standards set by Eric for their training fair in the least? Nope.

"Now that all of you are here," He shot her and Petra a pointed look and Lena almost threw her hands in defeat. "We can actually start."

 **~o.O.o~**

When they returned to their dorm at six Lena was sure she would never regain the ability to walk without wobbling. Gideon was supporting both her and Petra, not that he was doing any better in the balance department. When he dropped them on Lena's bed he waited for them to make room for him before falling beside them on his back.

The three of them panted loudly and Lena could hear the same tired groans coming from her fellow Group B's. Thankfully at the end of their practice Eric had mentioned that the groups were only for the day and that they would go back to training together tomorrow. Group A still hadn't come back and Lena wondered if Four was torturing them the same way Eric had.

They had gotten a lunch break but Group A hadn't been there. Lena wondered where Tris had ended up spending her day since none of her group ended up showing up in the training room all day. For that matter, when would they be back to the dorms? She hadn't had enough time during breakfast to talk to her and she missed talking to Tris.

"My legs are on fire," Gideon said while watching his twitching feet.

"I can't feel my legs, or arms. Actually my entire body is a mystery. At this point I could be missing a limb." Petra turns her head to look at him and Lena bit down a laugh.

After their morning laps Eric hadn't made them run again, which she was immensely thankful for because Lena couldn't imagine getting through _half_ of a single lap. Instead he showed them how to lift weights without dropping them or ripping a muscle because, in his words, it was too much of a hassle dealing with medical papers. After weights they were allowed to practice a simple combination of jabs that he taught them on the punching dummies.

It wasn't that Lena didn't appreciate the lessons in endurance and strength he was giving them, but she would have been more grateful if he was slightly more approachable and patient with them. They hadn't been raised in Dauntless, as surprising as it may be to him, in Abnegation they weren't told to run until they dropped. Lena figured that he would at least be more understanding about things since he was also a transfer, but apparently that just made him more bitter towards them.

Her thighs pulsed unhappily when she pushed herself into a sitting position. "I need to go get some ice."

Petra made a move to follow her before she cringed away and burrowed deeper into the thin blanket. "Good luck. If you pass out somewhere in a hallway…" Gideon digs his elbow into her side and she shoots him a glare.

Lena had no idea where she was going and her legs protested every step she took away from her bed and towards the unknown. Thankfully she managed to find her way to the Pit quickly and her legs appreciated that.

Lena noticed a woman with dark hair and multiple tattoos standing on her own against a wall, a screen lighting her face. Lena was a little nervous to ask her where she could get ice, what if everyone in Dauntless was as big of a douche as Eric?

As if on cue her legs cramped up and she leaned over to the woman, "Do you know where the med-bay is?" She debated adding a 'please' or 'excuse me' but figured that might get her thrown into the Chasm.

"One of Eric's initiates, huh?" Lena nodded somber. "Go down this hall and turn left- can't miss it." Lena managed to smile as thanks and hurried down the hall the woman had pointed at. At least that was one nice person to balance out.

Lena follows her directions to the dot. When she reached the large, glass double doors she knew she had found the right place. Not to mention the obvious block letters that spelled out 'MEDICAL BAY'. Lena pushed the doors and glanced around the snug area. She supposed that Dauntless didn't tend to frequent hospitals because they had buildings to jump off of.

"What can I do for you?" A man in a light grey uniform drew her attention to the desk.

Lena chewed her bottom lip, "I was hoping I could grab some ice for my legs."

"Rough first day of initiation?" Lena nodded before she realized he couldn't see her from the other end of the room and called out after him. He returned several seconds later with a blue pack in hand.

Thanking him Lena walked back out of the facility clutching the ice. It was after she made the mistake of not looking around the corner that she cursed, ramming headfirst into someone's chest. The bag fell out of her hand and she landed gracelessly on her ass in the middle of the hall, her hand clutching her nose. Lena couldn't feel any blood so that was at least one awkward and embarrassing moment she could avoid.

"Watch where you're going, Abnegation." Lena's eyes snap open in horror. Scratch avoiding awkward and embarrassing, she'd take it anytime over staring up at Eric.

From the floor. After she had _literally_ crashed into him. Her instructor.

He didn't offer her a hand up, just stared at her as Lena stood from the ground and knelt to pick up the ice pack. Dusting off the back of her pants she muttered, "I'm Dauntless now."

The corner of his mouth twitched and there was an endearing spark in his eyes. Lena was wondering if he would say anything or if she should take his silence as her cue to leave when she heard his challenging whisper. "Not until you pass initiation."

Squaring her shoulders, Lena decided that she would not be afraid of Eric. He was a hardass and he could make her life hell but after spending the worst part of two days in his presence she didn't care. "Which I will."

There was a sudden crash from behind her and Lena whipped around to see what was going on. A medical cart had been knocked over and the instruments were scattered on the floor, glinting off the fluorescent lighting, a nurse picking them up quickly. Lena shook her head at her own skittish behavior and turned her head back towards Eric.

He was suddenly a lot closer than when she had looked away. His face a few measly inches away from hers, his eyes studying her face methodically. She drew back before she could stop herself, she didn't want him to think she was afraid. She lifted her head to meet his eyes and he smirked, "We'll see about that."

 **~o.O.o~**

 **Six Months Later**

Lena was laying on her side in the white linen sheet surrounded by the scent of lemon disinfectant and bleach. A deep throbbing in her stomach and flashes of white hot pain when the morphine wasn't enough.

Everyone had come in to visit and wish her well but it didn't feel the same without one of the most important people in Lena's life. All of her friends had visited, even Four had stopped by under the pretense of checking her charts and only casually sitting by her side for over an hour to keep her company until Tris could come back.

She was alone now, listening to the steady beat of her heart monitor. Lena's skin was pale and her hands shook as she twirled a strand of hair around her finger. It was early morning according to the incessant _tick, tick, ticking_ of the clock nailed to the wall.

"I should have come to see you sooner," He was standing in the doorway, hand scratching nervously at the back of his neck. Lena watched him cross the room to sit at the corner of her bed. "Are you feeling better?"

Lena studied his face, the hard plane of his jaw and the curve of his nose. "Doctors says it's healing up right on schedule. I should be getting the hell out of here in no time." Her voice was cracked and he could see the tired purple bags under her eyes.

"We need to talk about-" He looked down at her and took a breath. "We need to talk about this." He knew he didn't need to explain what he meant when he spoke those words, he could tell by the look in her eyes that she knew.

"It's okay. I know you don't feel the same way I do about you, I know that we can't be together and I understand." Her blue eyes filled with tears and she willed them not to fall. She coughed into her hand and buried her her free hand into her side. "I really do."

"That's not-" He didn't get to finish. He watched, horrified, when her coughing continued and splatters of blood dripped down her palm and her chin. He reached for her, pulling her into a sitting position. His rough hands caressed her face and he couldn't breathe when she leaned to the side and threw up the blood from her lungs.

His hand slammed down on the emergency button above her bed just as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her lithe body began to convulse.

There was a flurry of motion. A nurse pulling him away from Lena's thrashing body. A doctor trying to reinsert the IV she must have ripped off during her seizure. There was a high pitched frequency scream in his ears, he couldn't hear the doctors shouting but he could hear the rhythm of her heart. The heart monitor showed the frenzied beats of her erratic heart, getting faster and faster until suddenly there was no pause and the screech of a single note filled the air.

"Lena! No! Let me go, that's my sister! Lena!" He slowly turned his head to watch Tris struggle in Four's arms, sobs shaking her shoulders and tears rolling down her face.

Four held onto her tighter, whispering something the man being pushed out of the room couldn't hear. Tris stopped screaming but her cries only became louder and more heartbreaking.

The nurses finally managed to shove him out of the room far enough to slam the door shut, but it didn't matter to him because she was gone. He had watched her heart stop beating and, looking at his hands, he saw her blood. Dried and cracking on his knuckles. Lena's blood was on his hands, her life falling away a few feet away from him.

And all Eric could do was stare at the tiled floor in regret.

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent or any of the characters other than Lena and Gideon and a few others. Okay, I own like a third of the characters.**

 **This is officially my least popular story which is a happy thing for my Merlin story but not for me. Honestly if I applied myself my stories would be going so much better but what the fuck do I know?** **I'm just focusing on one story for like a month and see how that goes so for November this is the only story I'm going to be updating- every few days. Lets do this!**

 **I posted this chapter at a decent hour! Kind of! I think the reason I love Peter and Eric is because of Miles and Jai and I don't regret that.**

 **Review and follow to know when I get my head out of my ass.**


	3. Visiting Day

**{Chapter 3}**

 **~Lena~**

Training got better after the first day because, to no one's surprise, Four wasn't as sadistic as Eric. The last two weeks had been a constant string of sore muscles and not enough relaxation. Although Lena could now navigate through a small portion of the Dauntless compound without getting hopelessly lost. Mostly from the dorm to the Pit, training room, cafeteria and Med-bay. She still had no clue how to go anywhere else but she was slowly figuring it out. With Tris' help, since Four had apparently been a better tour guide than Eric.

Tris had mentioned they had a tattoo and piercing studio that branched out from the Pit and several stores for clothes and other accessories. Lena wasn't really the type of girl who liked shopping but her sister, Petra and Christina insisted that she had to at least go and get more than the two pairs of training clothes she rotated. For the first time Lena wished Gideon and Peter were forced to go out during their girlier days too. Or that she could just hang out with them while the other girls scoured the shops.

That's where she found herself that morning instead of training. In a well lit boutique. Lena watched Tris laugh at something Chris said and she wondered where Petra had disappeared to. They had all walked in together but Lena wasn't interested in looking through hangers of mostly dark fabrics, though once in awhile she would spot a splash of color and wondered who in Dauntless bought the brighter shades.

"Hey, Lena?" Petra appeared at her side with a lopsided grin. "How many points do you have?" Lena opened her mouth before quickly closing it. She had no idea how many points she had, the only places she'd been since she got to Dauntless weren't involved with points.

"I don't know, probably a lot since I haven't spent any."

"None?" Tris asked behind her, turning Lena watched Tris' fingers fidget with the paper tag on a green sweater. As it turned out, Tris liked the lighter clothing. _Go figure._

"Nope," She smiled at Chris' flabbergasted expression.

Petra pointed to a sleek front desk. "I'm sure one of them could tell you exactly how much you have." Lena had a nagging feeling that they would use every last point in her account before they met the boys for breakfast.

Lena was right.

The second the woman at the tablet read off the number of available points, her friend's eyes lit up. She could practically see the wheels in their heads spinning- thinking about what would look good on her and what they could force her to buy that she didn't want.

Chris pulled her arm towards the racks and Lena followed, too startled by the sudden movement to struggle from her friends grasp. Tris and Petra picking shirts and pants to pile on her arms. Lena wasn't sure exactly how long she stood rooted in the same spot with extra weight being added onto the pile in her arms, but soon she was being pushed into a dressing room by grinning Tris. Then she was alone in a small curtained off room, next to a pile of clothing that came up to her waist from the floor.

She picked up a mesh fabric from the top and held it up to her body. Lena could see completely through the 'shirt' and she adamantly shook her head before tossing it away to the other side. One by one she looked through everything her friends had given her. Most of it was gone and Lena hadn't tried on a single thing yet.

"What's taking you so long?" Chris called out from the other side of the curtain.

"Give her a break, we gave her a lot." Lena heard Petra's soft voice drift through. Petra was still as much Amity as the first day in Dauntless. No matter how much Eric scowled or rolled his eyes, Petra continued to be kind and caring. Lena hoped she wouldn't take it easy on her opponents when the actual fighting started- she hoped that Petra would be strong enough to stay in Dauntless.

In the end Lena only liked less than a dozen of the items. Running her hands nervously down her face she dropped them on the checkout counter, much to the disappointment of Christina. Although her friend did convince her to buy two mesh tops so Lena didn't see why she was so grumpy on their way back to the dorm.

Chris and Petra were walking ahead, talking excitedly. Lena walked a little ways behind them with her sister. Tris bumped her shoulder and nodded to the bags on her arm. "You aren't planning to wear that pink one Petra picked, are you?"

"If you're talking about the see-through flower top then no, I won't even consider it." It was the only thing Petra had given her that she bought and Lena was starting to think that her Amity friend wasn't as innocent as she looked.

Tris broke out laughing, wiping tears of mirth away from her eyes as she choked out, "It's a dress." Lena stopped in her tracks and dug her hand into the bag, pulling it out she held it up to her body. It barely reached mid thigh and it was strategically patterned with lace and webbing ribbons of fabric to hide where her underwear would be. Though looking at the top area closer, Lena realized that a bra would look tacky and cheap.

"I can't wear this!" She whispered horrified looking at Petra's retreating form.

Tris folded the dress and shoved it back into it's bag before hooking her arm with Lena's she pointed at the bags, "Sis, do you really think you won't wear everything you bought?"

When she thought about how stubborn Tris was and how hardheaded she was figuring out Christina and Petra were, Lena was positive that she would wear every piece of clothing in her bag and every other thing they got her to buy. For the rest of her life.

Groaning she rested her head against Tris' shaking shoulder and hoped that her trunk would catch on fire sooner rather than later.

 **~o.O.o~**

They had only been focusing on basics in training- running and practicing on dummies. It wasn't the most lucrative training montage but she wasn't keen on making it more difficult for herself. There was another five and a half months of initiation and so far Lena thought it was going a lot better than she first imagined. There was always the fact hovering over her head that soon they would start hand-to-hand and the rankings would be shown to everyone, but Lena was feeling stronger than ever before.

"Do you think your parents will come today?" Petra asked over the breakfast table. Their friends were usually a lively bunch but today they were quiet. The foreboding of whether or not they would be seeing their parents today had taken their carefree attitudes.

"Probably not, they didn't visit Eric when he transferred and said awful things about him to their friends. I guess about me too now." Gideon poked at his uneaten eggs with his fork before dropping his head in the crook of his arms.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Gideon." Lena exchanged a look with her sister. Neither of their parents had visited Caleb when he left either, they loved their children but it was hard to accept that all three of them left Abnegation. "Your parents love you. I'm sure they just find it hard to come and see their boys and not be able to take them home."

Gideon ran his fingers through his hair and looked at her through disbelieving eyes. "You're too hopeful for your own good, Len."

"Why don't you go talk to your brother?" Petra grinned at him hopefully.

"I don't know where he is." Gideon had barely talked with his brother outside of training, as an almost leader and instructor Eric was busy and couldn't spare that much time for just the two of them. Lena couldn't imagine being so close to her sister and not talking to her as often as possible. It had been a huge relief for both of them when they transferred to Dauntless and wouldn't have to be apart.

"I'm sure we can find him," Lena looked at her omelette longingly before standing up. "Come on, I'll help you look."

"Are you sure?" Tris tugged at her dark sleeve. Lena knew that her sister was looking forward to spending the rest of the day together but she couldn't watch Gideon look so lost. If she was lucky she would find his brother and be back to her family in no time.

Lena knew Tris wasn't confident about their parents visiting either but she decided not to say the harsh truth and let her sister hope a little while longer. "We have plenty of time before visiting starts, I should be okay on timing."

Gideon and Lena walked out of the loud cafeteria without saying much to each other. They headed up the stairs towards the leader's offices that Eric had pointed out their first day. Lena watched the colorful tattoos on people passing by them with awe. There were simple designs of flames and then there were the more complicated and intricate pieces.

"You thinking about getting inked?" She was sure that eventually she would get something done on herself but she didn't really know what. It was kind of terrifying to her, that something could be on her body for the rest of her life, what if she picked something she liked now and hated it in a few months?

"Not right now but maybe after initiation is over. You?"

"I think I want to get something on my arm but I don't know what yet." They lapsed into a comfortable silence again as they passed by the surveillance room door. "Thank you for coming with me."

"No problem." Lena chewed her bottom lip. "If you don't mind me asking, why haven't you spent more time with your brother? You must have missed him before you transferred."

For a while it didn't seem like he would answer but with a sigh Gideon stopped and turned to face her fully. "Growing up my brother was my best friend. Eric was always at the top of his class and everyone was so impressed by him and they had all of these expectations from him. When they left for his Choosing Day, I _expected_ to see him home- I waited for him to come back home." Gideon closed his eyes and glanced at the staircase in front of him. "But he didn't. I was a kid and I didn't get why my brother didn't want to come home to me."

Lena reached out to place a comforting hand on his arm. "Our parents were really mad when he picked Dauntless. They talked about him so much that I started getting mad at him too, but the older I got the more I realized that they never talked about Eric. They talked about how _smart_ Eric was and how he could have been an Erudite prodigy, but they never talked about Eric like he was their son. Mom and Dad didn't talk about him like they missed him, they talked about him like they were disappointed."

Slowly Lena was starting to realize why she hadn't seen Gideon and Eric together. Gideon had been the one avoiding Eric, not the other way around. "He doesn't hate you. Well, it's Eric, he hates everyone. He doesn't hate you as much." She joked.

"You're a good friend and I can actually admit we're friends now that you don't look like you get dressed in the dark." Lena pushed him laughing.

"Thank Christina and Petra."

They walked past several doors before stopping at the end of the hall.

 **E. Coulter** was engraved on a little plate by the door, thankfully the hallway was empty when Gideon marched to it. He knocked on the office door, when no one answered he looked back at Lena with wide blue eyes. She couldn't help but compare the look on his face to a helpless puppy and she hated seeing her friend look so lost. "Knock again." She prompted quietly. Gideon raised a clenched hand to the door again.

It opened sharply and Gideon stood there motionless as his brother looked at him blankly. Lena looked between them worriedly, after Gideon talked to her about his brother, she was invested. She breathed a sigh of relief when Eric pulled his stiff brother into a hug. If anyone were to ask Lena to make a list of the things Eric Coulter did any day of the week, hugging someone wouldn't even make the top twenty. As she stood there slightly shocked watching him embrace his brother in what appeared to be a bone crushing hug Lena backed away in an attempt not to jar them. Gideon's arms slowly wrapped around his brother and Lena felt the tug on the corner of her mouth as she smiled.

Eric released his brother but kept his hands tightly clasped over Gideon's shoulders. There was a calmness and protectiveness in his chiseled features that she had never noticed before, looking over his brother Eric finally noticed her. When Eric gently pushed Gideon into his office Lena realized her chance for escape was getting smaller and smaller.

He shut the door before turning back to her with his face once again hidden under an impassive mask. His tone was indifferent but there was a biting edge and an easily heard warning in his voice. "You didn't see any of that."

Rolling her eyes Lena crossed her arms over her chest and leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you have a heart buried in there somewhere. No one would believe me anyways." Lena gave him a mock two finger salute before ambulating quickly towards the exit.

She may have had the guts to pull some sass on her instructor but no way in hell was she willing to stay behind and let him bite her head off for being a smartass.

 **~o.O.o~**

Tris and Lena were alone in the Pit. It was loud and alive but it seemed like there was a bubble around both of them, keeping the everyone at a safe distance. Lena felt the gnawing anxiety creeping into her head the longer they stayed in the Pit, waiting for people she knew weren't coming. Tris was searching through the crowd and trying to find the familiar faces of their parents. Lena didn't know why it was so hard for them to leave the Pit- she expected for them to be alone today but the crushing reality was harder to accept.

Watching all of the reunions was painfully for them. Faceless initiates Lena had only seen in passing in the training room were spread out in the vast room, some looked as disappointed as Lena felt and others were having a bittersweet reunion with their families. Lena didn't know if she should be happy for them. It wasn't that she didn't want their families to visit them but it just reminded her that at the end of the day they would all go back to their Factions and they would remain in Dauntless.

Peter and Christina were surrounded by a sea of black and white suits. Lena grimaced at the thought of spending the rest of the day in the company of Candors, let alone her entire life. She wouldn't be able to handle the lack of decorum in their Faction. She hoped they wouldn't be too harsh on Chris and Peter, especially now that they were no longer a part of their Faction.

Petra had nervously waited with them for half an hour before she left the Pit, let down. No one from her Faction had shown up, which surprised Lena. She knew Amity highly disapproved of the Dauntless lifestyle and she knew Petra would be upset, but her mother had asked Lena to watch out for Petra. So why wouldn't she come see her?

Gideon hadn't been back since Lena left him with his brother and Lena was happy for him. After he told her his fears she could tell that he was self conscious and didn't want to keep Eric, or himself, alone for anylonger than they already had been. Out of their little group it seemed like only half of them would have a fulfilling Visiting Day.

"Tris," Lena pressed gently. "Maybe we should go."

"A little longer." She nodded at her sister and looked around the room again.

Suddenly Tris' hand gripped tightly onto the hem of Lena's jacket and a bright smile lit up her face. A bubbling feeling built in Lena's chest as she looked where her sister was pointing, expecting to see the dull grey of Abnegation clothing or the blue of their mother's eyes, but she saw neither. Looking at her sister again all she saw was the renewed excitement on her face.

Curiously, Lena followed her eyes to the furthest corner of the Pit. A tall man in a striking blue suit stood away from the crowed, leaning against the wall and rubbing his hands together out of habit. He looked relaxed but Lena could tell that his spine was stiff and awkward. His blonde hair had grown longer than the last time Lena had seen him, before he walked with their parents to his Choosing Day.

"Caleb," She breathed, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Tris pulled her sister towards the back of the Pit.

Lena tried to avoid hitting as many people as she could while being dragged across the floor, she glances up to the glass ceiling and noticed the movement on one of the metal bridges above them. The two dark clad figures passed by quickly and as they moved she recognized the clothes Gideon had been wearing that morning. It was sweet to see the two of them together, it made Lena's stomach fill with warm and fuzzy feelings.

When the Coulter brothers rounded a corner she saw their faces, a peaceful layer falling around them. Lena could see the lifetime of comfort between the two of them. Watching them for a few more minutes before they vanished up the stairs and into the upstairs bar, Lena laughed at the image of Gideon tipsy. She didn't know if she was mad at Eric for taking Gideon to a bar _in the middle of the day_ or if she was upset that she would be _missing_ Gideon at a bar in the middle of the day. On second thought, it was definitely the latter.

"Caleb?" Their brother's head snapped towards them at the sound of Tris's soft voice. He looked at them curiously and Tris' nails dug into her sleeve. For a moment Lena was afraid that he wouldn't recognize them after all the time apart but then the ball of tension is her stomach disappear when a spark lit in Caleb's eyes.

Pushing off the wall Caleb opened his arms widely and engulfed both of his sisters in his warmth. "I've missed you both so much."

Lena felt the sting of tears building in her eyes as her arms wrapped around her brother tightly, a feeling of love and safety seeping through her bones from Tris and Caleb. Lena couldn't count how long she held her siblings, it was like time held still- froze in that instant where the only people in her world were her family. No one else existed and nothing else mattered. Not Faction, not responsibility and not the countless people around them.

"Let me look at you both," Caleb held himself away from them and scanned their bodies. For the first time since she began her training Lena felt the change in her body, noticing the developing muscle on her strengthening limbs. Her arms and legs were taut and she held herself with more confidence. "So grown up."

They took Caleb out of the Pit. Lena told herself it was for privacy but the truth Lena was trying to deny was that a part of her knew she would cry if Caleb held onto her anymore and she really didn't want to show weakness in front of her Dauntless Faction. Tris led them towards the stairs and up to the roof entrance of Dauntless. Lena could remember when she first jumped from the train on the first day of initiation, she had been so nervous to fall from the edge, she hadn't rusted herself or the leaders standing in front of her. Eric had been there, standing on the ledge, staring them down with a challenge in his eyes.

"You guys jumped _from here_?" Caleb looked down the depthless hole tucked between broken buildings of twisted metal and broken glass.

"Sure did, big brother." His eyes widened in horror and he backed away from the danger to sit in the center on the roof next to his sisters. A breeze drifted towards them and Lena swore she could smell the blooming flowers from the school yard.

They spent the next three hours talking about everything they had missed in their lives. Caleb talked about his apprenticeship with Doctor Kaine and his application to the leadership program that would hopefully pan out before the end of the year. Caleb blushed a brilliant bright red when Tris teased him about any girl he might have met and laughed at Lena's bruised legs from her kickboxing practice. It felt like old times during those hours, when the three of them would talk before dinner in Abnegation. Thinking about their old life made Lena nostalgic.

 **~o.O.o~**

When the visitors began to leave the air was sullen. Many of the initiates skidded away to be alone somewhere in the Dauntless compound. When Lena and Tris waved Caleb goodbye it felt like Lena was leaving behind what little was left of her Abnegation self and although it felt unnatural at first, it also felt liberating. Like she was finally allowed to move on from the person she was raised to be and become who she wants to be. A fearless warrior of Dauntless.

"Do you want to go out for a run, just the two of us?" Tris asked hopefully. Slowly Lena realized that in their weeks of initiation she had only spent time with Tris in company with their new friends. She couldn't remember a time in her life in Abnegation when they were apart.

Lena uncrossed her arms and turned to her sister, "You think you can keep up?"

"Absolutely!"

When they left the compound they were given thin silver badges to identify them as Dauntless initiates and a radio in case of an emergency. Lena was surprised at the loose security at the gate but she figured that with all the out of Faction visitors coming and going all day they had lax security. If she were being honest with herself, Lena would be bored out of her mind too if she had to stand all day checking the same papers from dozens of people.

The girls took off in the opposite direction of the leaving visitors cars. Lena barely felt the soreness in her thighs from the past weeks. All she could sense was the cool breeze whispering against her neck and the light bearing down on them in earnest. Smiling, Lena pushed herself to jog faster and laughed when Tris caught up quickly. Although the more they ran, following the tracks away from Dauntless, the less comfort Lena felt.

Her fingers curled around the radio just in case. "Do you feel like something is off?"

Tris nodded with wide blue eyes trained on the abandoned buildings surrounding them. The sound of breaking bottles drew them to a full stop in the middle of the gravelled road, arms raised and legs set into a subconscious fighting stance. Cautiously Lena tapped her finger against her lips and knelt to the ground quietly. Tris followed her lead and dropped down next to her. Slowly they stepped away from the open space and towards the sound coming from one of the old warehouses.

It's probably just some Factionless loitering, Lena justified in her head.

Peering in from the cracked door, Lena heard Tris' harsh breathing behind her. There were wooden crates in splinters around the cracked floor, piles of moth infested blankets and the broken glass they heard, but there were no Factionless. There was nothing to draw attention.

Standing up from her crouch Tris grabbed her sister's shaking hand in her own cold one, twisting their numbed fingers together, she pulled. "Let's head back."

Lena took one last survey of the inside before letting Tris walk back towards the path they'd run, back to the safety of the compound. "Do you think there was anyone in there?"

"We would have heard or seen them, Lena." Although Tris sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than Lena.

The warehouse was a grey and unassuming building in the rundown Factionless sector. Most of the door hung off its hinges uninvitingly and the windows were broken with shards of glass scattered around the tracks. "They could have climbed out through a window or out of a hole in one of the walls."

Tris walked faster, yanking her sister along by her hand. "You're freaking me out."

" _I'm_ freaking _me_ out, too." Glancing behind her Lena could have sworn a blur moved inside the warehouse but when she blinked it was gone. Shaking her head Lena walked faster to keep up with her sister. She tried not to think about the ominous loom of the building getting further away from them.

 **~o.O.o~**

"So my mom smacks my dad upside the head and all he does is stand there squawking!" Peter throws his head back in laughter at Christina's exaggerated face, she plumps her cheeks up and holds her eyes open with her fingers. Lena giggled along but there was still the feeling of unease weighing down on her chest.

"Chris, I'm really happy for you," Tris beamed at her friend.

Christina's parents were visibly split on their feelings for their now Dauntless daughter. Her father was more concerned about her choice than her mother. Her mother was radiating pride while looking at her daughter- wearing strapping black and looking as Dauntless as ever. While her father had been more reserved with her, offering her smile instead of a hug. The confrontation ended when Christina's mother told him, in no uncertain terms, that if he didn't want to sleep in the den he would show Chris the respect she had earned.

"What about the two of you? I saw you leaving with an Erudite." Gideon asked with a flick of his eyebrow. "Didn't you say you transferred from Abnegation?"

"We did but Caleb, our brother, left for Erudite. He came to see us." Lena explained, trying not to let the sadness she felt shake her voice.

"It was sweet of him to come," Whispered Petra into her glass. She hadn't been her bright and cheery self since before she left the Pit. She refused to admit it but Lena knew that she was angry with the people who didn't show up to see her. Lena could understand, she was mad at her parents despite knowing how they must feel. Abandoned and alone.

Lena reached across the table and gave her hand a firm squeeze.

"Attention all initiates! I hope you've enjoyed your day off because it'll be your last for the next five and a half months." Eric snarled from the ramp above them. He stood between Four and Lauren, his eyes hard and mouth turned down unhappily.

"Tomorrow we start combat, everything you've learned or _thought_ you've learned will be put to the test. As many of you have already been told, training is two stages." Eric held up two before continuing. "Stage one lasts four months and the bottom six will be Factionless and stage two will see another four leave as well. For those of you who make it, jobs and living spaces will be assigned and distributed by ranking. The top five initiates get their pick of both so aim high and try not to embarrass yourselves."

Eric rolled his eyes when initiates began talking loudly and urgently amongst themselves. His eyes found his brother and moved gracefully from the back of his head to Lena's face. He watched her for a moment before jumping down, Lauren and Four followed him off the platform and together they disappeared into the gathering crowd.

"I know they told us about the cuts on the first day but I'm panicking over here," Peter said, shaking his head.

"We'll be okay." Lena watched the similar expressions of apprehension on their faces. Lena squared her shoulders. "We're going to pass initiation together."

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent or any of it's characters. I do own Lena, Gideon, Petra and a few other characters though.**

 **Look at the cute interaction between everyone, isn't it adorable? Yeah, shit is going to start hitting the fan so you might want to enjoy these moments while they last. Did you guys like the little insight into Gideon and Eric's characters?**

 **I'm keeping up with NaNoWriMo so far and that's really nice but it's only day 6 so there's always time for me to fall the fuck off the wagon.**

 **Keep in mind that this story is rated M for reasons such as sex, cursing, violence and graphic _all of the above_.**

 **I'm like 10/10 sure that everyone hates this.**

 **Anyways, follow and review if you like it!**


	4. Stage One

**{Chapter 4)**

 **~Lena~**

 ***This is Me by Keala Settle***

When they entered the training room Lena could tell something was different than the last two weeks. It wasn't only the layered mats in the middle of the room that drew everyone's attention or the stoic twin expressions on Eric and Four's faces that forced them to stop moving. It was the atmosphere that followed every initiate, that clung to their clothes and leered behind them. They were quickly realizing that stage one was beginning today and it was an ever present reality that started from the moment they lined up in the training room that morning. Lena could smell it. The desperation heavy in the air.

She could feel the chill setting in her bones and the shivers of anxiety running up her spine. Ranking, their lives would come down to a number on a list of thirty, their lives depending on a red line. Anything could knock them down the ladder and cost them their spot in Dauntless. An accident, sabotage, compassion.

Looking around her at the other transfers, Lena could see the fragile strings of trust they had built with each other snap. Soundlessly each of them wrapped themselves in their personal bubbles, the last of their confidence fading. They were waiting to climb over one another mercilessly and prove who deserved to be in Dauntless and who deserved to be nothing.

Tris was beside her. She stared ahead, not noticing the breaking friendships and building resentment fuelling the others. Lena stared at her instructors, a new found strength rising in her chest. She had promised Tris that they would stay together, she promised Petra's mother to look out for her, she promised herself to watch out for her friends. Promises that she intended to keep.

They would all make it through initiation. Together.

Lena stared at Four. Hair trimmed short, angular face turned away from them and broad shoulders stiff. His rigid posture and unblinking dark eyes. There was something about him that caused a stirring in her chest. A familiarity she couldn't shake, like she could remember those brown eyes and the resistance he radiated.

"You fight separately from the Dauntless-born but you're ranked together, every week those rankings will be posted in this training room." Four pointed to a blank cement beam and continued. "No one will be cut until the last day of stage one, unless there are extenuating circumstances. That gives you the next three and a half months to earn your place here."

"Your new training schedule will seem easier." Eric smirked at the confused expressions exchanged between Lena's fellow initiates. Eric swept his eyes over their group, blue sparking wildly with each face he passed. "The only time you're required to be here is when you're in a scheduled fight. You don't have to watch the other fights. You can start training whenever you want, leave the training area whenever you want."

"Why would you just let us run around and do whatever we want?" Drew spit the words out in cynically. Uncertain of how Eric would react, a few of the people surrounding him took steps away. Thankfully for him, Eric was too excited to let Drew pull his mood down.

Eric grinned at Four and shook his head, "We want to see how badly you want it."

"Want what exactly?" Al asked.

Lena stared at Eric and, not being able to stop herself, answered Al's question instead of waiting for her instructor. "Dauntless. They want to see how badly we want Dauntless."

Glancing towards Eric she could see the approval gleaming in his eyes but chose to ignore it and the little feeling of pride in her chest. She didn't need his approval for anything. Least of all the process of natural selection he encouraged.

"This week's fights are listed over there," Four said with a wave of his hand. "Do your best and don't get yourselves killed."

Lena could swear she heard his voice waver but when she looked at his face there was no sign of sympathy. When Eric and Four stepped away from the beam Four had pointed out earlier, there was a wave of eager students rushing forward. All of them trying to catch a glimpse of who would be their opponent that week. They all wanted to know if they had a chance of surviving the next seven days without broken limbs and a continued heartbeat.

Lena and her friends didn't push through the crowd, instead they waited for them to part naturally when they found what they wanted. Eventually they were able to reach the list and read off their own names and their sparring partners for the week to each other.

 **~o.O.o~**

 **Al and Drew**

 **Simon and Peter**

 **George and Edward**

 **Myra and Petra**

 **Christina & Molly**

 **Tris & Gideon**

 **Lena & Roni**

 **~o.O.o~**

Gideon looked disgusted as he found his name next to Tris', but Lena was reassured. It meant that Tris had another full week to hone in on her training and be ready for a real fight. Lena knew Gideon would give it his best shot but he wouldn't hurt her sister, he cared too much about his friends to ever hurt them, even if it meant his spot in Dauntless. Knowing that, Lena made a mental note to keep an eye on his ranking closer than her other friends. Gideon's kindness would be his undoing.

Her own match was confusing. She wasn't exactly best friends with all the transfers but Lena would have liked to think that she at least knew all of their names by now.

"Who the hell is Roni?" Lena asked, mostly to herself, not expecting an answer.

"Dauntless-born. Since there's an odd number of initiates in each class, we get to play mix and match every week with one of you." Eric snuck up behind her and Lena controlled her urge to jump at the sound of his voice. Eric craned his neck to check the list before continuing in an emotionless tone, "Congratulations, this week it's you. Try not to let her kill you."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Lena replied sarcastically, her eyes rolling on their own accord. "Any more golden advice?"

Eric stared down at her with his teeth clenched before he rose his voice for everyone to hear. "First fight, Al and Drew."

"We don't get any time to prepare?" Al questioned, his light eyes wide with unexpected fear. "That's not fair! Everyone-"

Eric looked bored with the younger man's inquiry. His tattooed arms crossed tersely over his chest. Somehow, without separating his teeth, Eric bit out, "You've had the last two weeks. If this was a real fight, you wouldn't even get that. Center stage, let's go!"

Drew and Al took their fighting stances, clumsy and uncertain. Their arms shook slightly from the tightness of their muscles as they tried to maintain the correct defense position, circling each other without stepping closer. Their bodies at least a few feet apart. Lena didn't know how long she watched their dance of mice, no one moving to strike. It made her antsy; she knew that if they didn't begin the fight soon Eric would step in.

"Come on, Al." Someone called out, Lena's head twitched but she didn't turn. The glare Eric sent behind his shoulder told her the person wouldn't repeat their encouragement.

Al leaped away from Drew's shallow jabs, their eyes anxiously seeking Eric out. Lena watched them with a sense of disappointment, she knew that refusing to fight each other meant their names would slip underneath the line and they would be out of Dauntless. Neither of them were her friends like Gideon or Peter or Chris and Petra, but she hated to see anyone become Factionless. As unavoidable as it was.

"Enough." Eric growled out dangerously. Although his tone and body displayed anger, Al and Drew looked relieved to step out of the ring. "Simon and Peter, don't disappoint me."

Lena quietly wishes Peter good luck as he passed her, meeting the Amity transfer in the middle of the mats. They didn't waste time like the previous duo. Their legs the proper distance apart and hands clutched in tight fists, determination blazing in their eyes.

Simon struck out quickly, with purpose towards his stomach, dubbing Peter over and knocking the air out of him. Unexpecting the hit, Peter rose his knee to knock his opponent away. When Simon's muscles tensed and his terse hand reached for him again, Peter caught his wrist before Simon could hit his face again, twisting his hand away from him.

The violent dance continued. One of them would attack while the other defended his body, calculating his next move. Peter was breathing hard after a few minutes of harsh hits exchanged between them. Lena could see the blooming bruises on his cheek and knuckles, she hoped he could hold out until Eric stopped the fight.

Simon ducked lowly, kicking out Peter's legs from under him, Peter's back cracking loudly against the mat as he fell. A pained groan falling from his lips. Before he could stand again, Simon straddled his chest, landing a series of planned punches to his jaw. Blood flowed out of Peter's nose, staining his shirt and Simon's hands. He tried to protect his face but Simon's legs pinned him uselessly beneath him.

Lena waited for Eric to call off the fight, it was clear that Simon had won this time, and yet Eric said nothing. She watched as Simon beat her friend to near unconsciousness. Peter's head bouncing off the padding with every hit.

Without thinking she reached out to Eric, unnoticed by the others, her hand tugged on his sleeve lightly. Eric's body froze at her touch and his head snapped down to her as she wrapped her hand around his wrist. He looked shocked at her hand but she didn't pull away and he didn't yell at her, Lena considered that a good sigh.

"It's over, stop the fight before he kills Peter." She whispered pleadingly, almost adding a 'please' but figured that would have the opposite effect of what she wanted. Lena didn't care about how pathetic she sounded to him, her friend was being beaten to death in front of her and Lena wasn't about to let it happen without trying to help him.

Eric stared at her with an unreadable expression before he ripped his hand away from her. "Enough, initiate. Someone get Peter to a medic. No more fights for today." Lena was rushing to her friend before Eric could finish talking. She heard him talking behind her. "Drew and Al. You fight again at the end of the week. This is the one and only time I give anyone this leeway."

Christina pulled on Peter's other limp arm as they picked him up from the floor. His arms wrapped around their shoulders, a grim look on his sullied face. They dragged his limping bodied towards the door, no words were said between any of them. When they reached the firmly shut doors. Lena contemplated calling out to one of their friends before she spotted an arm in her peripheral vision. Eric pulled open the metal door and gestured not unkindly for them.

Her instructor seemed to be one major surprise after the other today, even his long sleeved shirt seemed out of character. He normally wore form fitting tee shirts, not that she took the time to notice what he wore on purpose, but she was observant subconsciously.

While they walked to the infirmary, Eric trailed behind, lagging by only a few feet. Lena wondered if it was to make sure they could handle Peter's dead weight. A nurse must have seen them trudging down the halls because soon there was a wheeled bed rolling towards them and a team checking Peter's vitals.

"Can you stay with him? He shouldn't wake up along." Lena asked.

Christina nodded, mutely following the gurnee down the blindingly lit hall. She waited for Eric to leave or chastise her for telling him what to do during the fight, but he did neither. They stood in silence for a while, letting the quiet envelope them.

"Don't get so attached. The chances of all of your new friends making it out of initiation is low, especially if they fight like that." His voice was calm and collected, but the spark of anger Lena usually felt around him lit into a burning rage. She turned to him sharply.

 **~Two Days Earlier~**

 **~Eric~**

His forearm stung like a bitch, his jacket was soaked through and he knew damn well that he wouldn't be wearing it again. A jagged rip ran along the length of his arm, tearing the skin apart and exposing the muscle. He was thankful that it was in the middle of the night and the Pit and halls leading to the infirmary were mostly barren of life.

"Eric," Lauren's voice called out behind him. "Max wants to see us in his office."

"Did he say about what?" The fabric irritated his wound but he stood stark still in front of the Dauntless-born trainer.

"No, but judging by what happened tonight I'm guessing something concerning the Factionless." She eyed the drips of crimson landing on the floor by his feet. "Get patched up and I'll meet you there with Four."

He grit his teeth but didn't argue. As much as he would love to pretend he wasn't in dire need of more than a few stitches and some non-judgement inhibiting drugs, he really was. Will didn't even blink when Eric slammed his injured arm on his worktable.

"What did you do to piss off the trainee's now?" His best friend chuckled as he peeled away the bloodied jacket, expecting a graze from a throwing knife. When he saw the full extent of damage his jaw dropped. "Holy shit, Eric."

"I'll tell you about it later, right now I need to go meet with Max so can you-" Eric lifted his arm suggestively and inclined his head to the suture supplies.

"This is going to need at least ten stitches." Will shook his head and muttered under his breath disapprovingly as he turned Eric's arm from side to side to study the deep slice. The edges were smooth, cut with precision. Not like a knife's barbed wound. "Glass?"

Eric nodded with a frown. "Got me with a broken bottle. It was almost my face."

"Good thing it didn't get you, this'll scar and you might have lost an eye." His tone was serious as he pulled out a kit. The polymer thread was pulled through with steady hand, the scissors pushing the needle through the skin and the tweezers pulling it out the other side.

"How long do I have to keep these in?"

"These are absorbable because this is definitely deep tissue trauma and I don't want to risk an infection. Don't fuck with it either, if you pull on these, I will not fix you."

"Yes, you will." Eric grinned.

Will signed as he reached inside a drawer for gauze. "Yes, I will."

Eric was two years older than Will. When they had first met, Will was a transfer and Eric was still trying to find his place in Dauntless, jumping from one assignment to another. At that time the only instructor for the transfers was Zeke, a friend of his. Eric remembered that Zeke had asked him to step in for the day while he took his younger brother to the fence. Will had been the smartass of the class, always making snappy remarks and rolling his eyes. Two things he was still utilizing, two years later.

Will had been the first friend Eric made willingly outside of Four and Zeke. Will Cariss had finished fourth in his class, only because of an accident that put him in a hospital bed for a week. Will often joked that the broken wrist was the reason he was the best doctor in Dauntless. Eric liked to correct him that he was originally only interested in a medical position because there were cute nurses.

"Almost done, keep still." Will quickly wrapped the white linen fabric over his uniformed stitches. "You might want to cover that up around your class. You wouldn't want them to freak out and think they can suddenly take you in a fight."

There was an unspoken reason hovering between them as Will finished his arm. He couldn't show the transfers he was hurt. They all came from their separate Factions wanting to be brave and strong. Not to be afraid of a cowardly Factionless with a broken bottle. Eric could make the personal sacrifice of wearing long sleeves for a few weeks.

"Come back in a few days so I can make sure you haven't torn them." Eric waved behind him to acknowledge Will.

When he arrived in Max's office, Four and Lauren were sitting in the chairs across from their leader's desk, quietly waiting for the meeting to begin. Eric nodded his hello towards his friends before turning to Max. He was a tall man with olive colored skin, dark bags hung under his eyes from sleepless nights. His suit was pressed and he looked intimidating until his face relaxed and his body sunk into his desk chair.

"What happened tonight?" Eric saw the unopened files on his desk, the ones dated tonight. Eric knew Max would rather hear from him what happened than read the bland words.

"I was heading the patrol towards the Amity fields. There was a group of Factionless loitering and scouting out one of the Amity storehouses. We followed protocol, asked them to leave the area without being threatening or aggressive. They turned as if they would listen to our warning but clearly that was shit." He glared at his wrapped arm.

"Eric," Lauren warned.

Rolling his head in an attempt to loosen the knots causing his headache Eric continued, "There were four of us and six of them. We got cocky thinking they wouldn't risk it because we had guns, but they weren't phased. They ran off with a few bags of food and Tori's gun. They caught us off guard, hell, I'm the only one who isn't in the ICU."

"You were all lucky to get away with your lives," Four commented. Four and Eric weren't as close as Will and Eric but he knew when Four was worried.

"That's the thing," Eric leaned forward in his chair, elbows resting on his knees. "They didn't care about us as much as they did about the supplies."

"They are Factionless, they were probably starving." Lauren theorized. Normally that would make sense, the Factionless only had what Abnegation set aside for them. But this, something about the night felt off for Eric. It was too planned, they knew that tonight there would only be four Dauntless instead of the usual eight.

"They took too much just for them and Joannah said there have been a number of thefts from other warehouses recently. The Factionless are planning something."

"We'll increase patrols around the Amity sectors," Eric perked up, ready to fight Max on his idea. Before he could, Max held up his hand to silence him. "Just until we know what's happening. I'm not sending our soldiers into the heart of the Factionless blind."

With that the topic was dropped for the rest of the meeting. Eric knew he was right and so did everyone else in the room. There was something going on with the Factionless in the past couple of months. There was always something sketchy going on in the slums but recently they were becoming more bold, better prepared. With stolen supplies from every Faction.

"I've seen great improvement in your transfers this year." Max offered to Four and Eric.

"In the joint rankings the transfers are all below the Dauntless-born." Eric fell back heavily against the chair, disappointed in the turn of conversation.

"Not all of them, there are those Amity and Abnegation transfers. Simon Lance and Lena Prior. They're showing potential. So is your brother." Four replied, glancing towards his friend cautiously. Eric had noticed the two of them as well.

Simon was broad shouldered and honey skinned from years of working in the fields, the boy was stoic but there was a dangerous spark in his eyes when he trained. The slight uplift of his lip when he punched the dummy hard enough for the beam it hung off of to shake. He ran on self preservation, Simon would do anything to stay in Dauntless.

Simon didn't hang out with many people outside of practice, Eric had seen him talking with a handful of people in the Pit since his arrival. Drew, Edward and Myra primarily.

Lena was his polar opposite. She was leaner and more agile because of her smaller build. She had a high endurance for running laps and her lightning fast jabs rocked the punching bag. Lena looked out for her friends and her sister, normally Eric would consider her compassion a weakness, but she trained to make herself stronger to protect them. Something he couldn't quite understand but did respect.

Gideon looked like their father- blonde hair falling over his forehead and light eyes studying everything around him. His brother was brilliant, Eric just hoped that he would be able to apply his Erudite upbringing to calculate his fights.

"Maybe if Eric tried to instruct the transfers instead of just yelling they would be doing better in the rankings." Lauren said with a laugh. It was clear to Eric that she was joking but it made him think, was yelling really all he did?

"They don't need to be babysat, they need to learn how to fight." Eric sounded confident but a speck of uncertainty burrowed into his mind.

Being a trainer wasn't his first option, he was going to be a leader in Dauntless. He worked on it day in and day out, sometimes his frustrations from mounds of paperwork bled into his teaching. He wasn't about to start coddling the initiates but he could make an effort to be more insightful for them. Although he made that decision, a part of him knew that after a good night's sleep he would be back to the same regime.

 **~Day of the Fights~**

He felt the warmth seep into his cool skin, elegant fingers wrapping around his wrist in a gentle tug. Eric's body tensed and his gazed dropped down. A head full of golden curls filled his view and icy blue eyes stared up at him. He didn't pull away from her, her touch was strangely comforting. Eric waited, tight lipped, for her to tell him what she wanted.

"It's over, stop the fight before he kills Peter." Her voice was soft and it flooded his sense with the melodic tone. Her eyes were wide and her skin felt smooth and warm against his.

He stared at her momentarily, trying to find any ulterior motives for her request. When he didn't find one, Eric stepped away from her, Lena's hand slipping away. "Enough, initiate. Someone get Peter to a medic. No more fights for today." Lena pushed her way to the mats before Eric could finish talking. Absentmindedly he added, "Drew and Al. You fight again at the end of the week. This is the one and only time I give anyone this leeway."

Lena's friend, Christina, spoke quickly to their other friends and rushed to Peter's side. The two girls lifted him up with his arms around their shoulders as the rest of their class disbursed, their friends sending regretful looks as they dragged Peter to the door of the gym.

Not thinking about it, Eric quickly stepped across the room and reached out to open the door for them. They walked in relative silence, eyes trailed after the hurt boy in his friend's arms. When Christina followed Will into the medical room, Eric was left alone with Lena. She gnawed at her lip worriedly.

"Don't get so attached. The chances of all of your new friends making it out of initiation is low, especially if they fight like that." He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared after her friends.

"Thanks for the advice, Coulter." Lena snapped back sarcastically. Turning on Eric with a frown painted over her lips. Her shoulders squared and she glared at him.

Pushing off the wall, Eric took a wide stride closer to her trembling body. Her entire being shook and he could feel her becoming more upset with him when he opened his mouth. "Don't get smart with me, I'm trying to help."

"That'll be new." She said under her breath, knowing full well that he would hear her.

"Excuse me?" Eric snapped. "I'm your superior. Show some respect, transfer."

"Get off your high horse, _Eric_. There's a difference between teaching us how to be good soldiers and how to be cruel. You would have let Simon kill him. How are we supposed to protect this city if we can't rely on each other?" She yelled, not noticing the people clearing the hallway to avoid becoming involved.

"Trust isn't a part of initiation." He offered up, knowing she wasn't through being angry with him. He knew it would be easy to walk away, leave her in the hall to wait for her friends, but he couldn't walk away.

Lena was interesting. She didn't cower away from him. Choosing to yell at him in earnest. Even though it had been only a few short weeks since she transferred, there was a new confidence in her. One that hadn't been there the day she jumped off the roof. It intrigued him to see her becoming more Dauntless each day.

"It doesn't have to be on an itinerary for you to realize that we're a team. Tris and I, our friends, all of us. We can't reach our full potential in Dauntless if we don't have trust in each other. It's your job to teach us so things like this," She gestured with her arm in the direction Peter had been wheeled away. "Don't happen."

Eric saw her bottom lip quiver and the reddening of her eyes, she was becoming emotional and if he didn't handle it quickly it would only get worse. It didn't make sense to him but he didn't want her to look weak in front of the remaining Dauntless.

Eric rubbed at the back of his neck, "Stay in the training room after six tomorrow."

Lena's shoulders relaxed marginally. "Why?"

"Just do what you're told." Eric could feel his stitches pulling at his skin. He left Lena in the hall, alone and completely convinced that Eric would make her run laps until she dropped dead from exhaustion.

 **~o.O.o~**

 **~Lena~**

Sweat dripped down her forehead as she punched the leather bag. Her hands were sore but she was too anxious to focus on the constant sting on her knuckles. A warm hand landed on her shoulder, stopping her punch.

"What did the bag ever do to you?" Tris watched her sister breath heavily with a growing sense of unease. "Are you ready to go? Petra and Chris want to go shopping."

Lena wasn't the type of person to lose herself in violence, but no matter how much she had tried to keep her attention, Lena would space away. It had been like that since Peter went to the infirmary yesterday. Christina was worried about their friend too but she had made an effort to keep her spirits up.

"Actually, I think I'll get in some more practice." Before Tris could offer to stay behind with her, Lena said, "Don't tell them but I just don't want to go."

Her sister laughed, feeling lighter with her sister. It had been a long time since they had any quality time together. "Do you want to go for a run around the compound tomorrow?"

"I'd love to." Lena replied. "As long as we stay away from the abandoned warehouse district. That place gave me the creeps."

"Deal," Tris called out as she exited the training room.

The smile slipped off Lena's face when the door shut behind Tris. The day had gone by and Eric hadn't even looked at her, and she didn't know if she wanted to be thankful for that. She waited impatiently, watching the clock on the wall tick away past six.

"Good, you're here. We should get started." Eric dropped his exercise bag and a jacket onto the floor next to the mats. He was wearing a short sleeved shirt, unlike earlier, and Lena could see the deep cut running on his forearm.

Her questioning gaze was met with silence and she dropped the subject. Whatever happened he clearly didn't want to talk about it- least of all with her. "Start what exactly?"

"Your training." Lena froze, one of her feet on the mat and her arms falling to her sides. "You're a promising member of Dauntless." He said as a way of explaining his odd behavior.

Lena could tell there was something else he wasn't saying but instead of pushing him for answers, she stepped to the center of the ring and widened her stance. He inspected her form and nodded curtly in, what she would consider, approval from him..

She swung out at him with her dominant arm, hoping to catch him off guard. Eric easily side stepped her assault, dodging it effortlessly. She dropped to the ground, sweeping her leg under his feet. Eric jumped away with a chuckle. It was different than the other matches she had seen, Eric was better than her in everyway. Despite his taller and built frame, he was faster than she was, stronger, and more experienced.

They continued to spar, Lena would get close, convinced that she would land a hit or at least graze him. Then he would spin away from her, leaving her the cold air against her fist. She was becoming frustrated and quickly running out of energy. Lena hadn't been able to even touch him yet and all he'd done in the last hour was block her attacks.

His arms remained raised and ready to strike as he watched her. Lena's arms were bruised and she couldn't help but double over to catch her breath. She saw Eric relax out of the corner of her eye, Lena pushed the loose hair from her burning head.

Eric suddenly moved, too quick, for her to register more than just a blur. Her arm twisted behind her back, on the verge of being painful. His muscular thigh slipped between her legs and a tattooed arm held her throat in a sleeper hold. Her back was flush against his chest and she could feel his low laugh when she tried to wiggle away from the hold.

She couldn't free herself and her head was becoming light from the continued shallow puffs of air she managed to squeeze through her nose. One of her arms was tightly secured to her side by his arm while the other clung onto his arm.

"Turn your chin into the crook of my arm and raise your shoulders. It'll relieve pressure my arm has on your throat." Lena followed his instructions gingerly, her shoulders brushed his collarbone as she took a deep breath. "Don't pull away from me, get as close as you can."

"Okay," She whispered. They were alone in the training room but Lena couldn't summon any air into her lungs to speak any louder. Pushing her body into his as much as she could, Lena felt the hitch in his breathing.

"Hold my fingers backward," His voice was guttural, warmth seeping into her back and shoulders from where his body touched hers. She reached his hand with her own and pulled his rough fingers backward, like she was ready to break them. "Just like that."

She waited for the next step, "What do I do next?"

"Twist your body around when you feel my arm loosen its grip and push me away." Eric rasped in her ear. Lena yanked his hand away from her neck, her worn out body turning on it's own accord. Her hands pushed at his chest and she was free from the hold he had her in. "I'm going to teach you how to fight like a Dauntless."

She could still feel the strange pull of his arms, even a foot away from him, the chill over her body an unwelcome reminder of how warm and intoxicating he had felt. "So that's how you get out of that, thanks for-uh, showing me. See you tomorrow. Good night."

Lena grabbed her jacket and sprints out of the room not bothering to look behind her. She couldn't understand how someone so mean and impersonal could have such an unwanted effect on her. Her fingers dug into the fabric of the dark coat and she was almost inside the dorm before she realized that she hadn't brought a jacket with her into the training room.

In the training room, Eric watched her disappear through the door, still standing in the middle of the mats trying to ignore the tingling sensation spreading from his hands to his chest.

* * *

 **This is probably going to be the last update for a while but I just felt a lot of support from CynDLou12 and felt like she deserved a new chapter. If this story somehow becomes popular and more active in the coming weeks that could change my plans for updating but at this point I don't know.**

 **Anyways, welcome to my wreck of a story, I hope you enjoy your stay and leave a review!**

 **P.S. Remember that on my profile page it has a lot of information about all of my stories and their updating.**


	5. Apologize

**Hello!**

 **I'm sorry to post an authors note as a chapter and to have one posted at all, however I felt you all should know... As of January 11th, 2018** **I am putting all of my stories for up to six months of hiatus.**

 **During that time I'm writing a complete story, called _Mend_. The reason I decided to do this is because I've been feeling very disconnected with my Mortal Instruments stories as of late and writing them has felt more like a chore and less like the writing passion I'm used to. While my other fandom stories are not connected to that drop of enthusiasm, they are all in the beginning stages.**

 **Not only that, but with Seeing Red, I've realized that I work faster and _better_ when focusing on a single story. I'm allowing myself _up to_ six months to finish _Mend_. It will have 24ish chapters and around 100,000 words. It's a Harry Potter story so if you're interested- keep an eye out. Truth is, I'll probably finish sooner than planned and be back to these.**

 **I'm very sorry, but I have to follow my muse. I also believe that taking a break and focusing on one story would let me destress and be back with more energy and a bigger work ethic.**

 **All of my stories will be complete. One at a time.**


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